Laporta's jab at Madrid: "The 72 hours should be respected, but we will show up"

On Tuesday afternoon, Joan Laporta attended the inaugural event for the 125th anniversary of the Catalan Football Federation. The top leader of FC Barcelona was present at the event alongside his vice president, Rafael Yuste, and after the event, he briefly spoke to the media from inside his vehicle at the IDEAL-Centre d'Arts Digital in the Poble Nou neighborhood.

With the window down, the president congratulated the Catalan Federation on its anniversary and was then questioned about the less than 72 hours separating the Catalan team's matches against Osasuna (Thursday, 9 PM) and Girona (Sunday, 4:15 PM), a topic that has caused controversy and outrage within the blue and garnet entity due to the little rest their players will have after the international break.

However, rather than making excuses, Laporta firmly stated that "of course we will show up, as Pedri said, we would like the 72 hours to be respected, it couldn't be, obviously, but we will show up", in what could be a jab at Real Madrid, who threatened through a public statement not to play when this time frame between matches is not respected. Barcelona asks for respect but does not support such an inflexible stance.

Will Camp Nou host the final of the 2030 World Cup?

Similarly, the Barça president had a funny yet curious moment with the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Rafael Louzán, thanks to a question thrown into the air by the media present at the event.

"Louzán, does Laporta want the World Cup final at Camp Nou?" was the question. The president of the Federation 'dodged' it and assured that "it's a good stadium". Laporta, quick on his feet, responded with laughter, "good observation" before entering the venue.

Indeed, Real Madrid and Barcelona are in a tug-of-war to host the final of the 2030 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Spain, Morocco, Portugal, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Allegedly, the RFEF has a certain inclination towards the Santiago Bernabéu, even though the Spotify Camp Nou has a better rating as a venue. The blaugranas intend to fight until the end for this privilege, and this 'wink' from the president to his Catalan counterpart only fuels the speculation.